"As Juan Cole noted on November 2, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani recently said in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat that he was opposed to the United States launching an invasion of Syria from Iraq, but that he couldn't really do anything to stop it. AFP (November 2) writes:

"I categorically refuse the use of Iraqi soil to launch a military strike against Syria or any other Arab country," Talabani told the London-based Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat in an interview published Tuesday.

"But at the end of the day my ability to confront the US military is limited and I cannot impose on them my will.""